Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are sending smoke signals: The buzzed boys, the original road trippers and iconic stoner comedy team, have just published their first graphic novel, ahead of the duo’s celebrating their 50th anniversary. Dude, that’s like half a century of the spliff and hilarious stoner scenes! Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed, co-written by the iconic duo and published by Z2 Comics, illustrates and illuminates a fictionalized interpretation of weed’s influence on historical figures throughout time.
High Art and Hard Laughs
Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed was created in partnership with comedian/comics writer Eliot Rahal and artist Noah Van Sciver for your viewing pleasure. This toke-worthy tome’s being put out in soft and hardcover editions, wherever comics books are sold. So, hit your favorite indy comic shop or bookstore for the April 20, 2022 release.
It’s Historically Epic!
Chong told High Times that he’s excited for fans to “see this amazing work from so many talented artists bringing to life the legend of Cheech & Chong.” For stone-solid lovers and enthusiasts for “high” art, as in spliff-inspired, there is also an oversized slipcase deluxe format with wraparound cover art and slipmat by Bob Fingerman. And a print set featuring the work of Rick Veitch, Jim Mahfood, and Jason Gonzalez. A primo, limited-platinum edition is also available as a one-time, signed work worthy of space in any authentic enthusiast’s collection.
Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed offers a fictionalized history, smoking out pot’s documented influence on people, places, and things through time — including Napoleon Bonaparte, Frida Kahlo, and Muhammed Ali, along with other role models and heroes. The cover highlights these icons of weed culture, giving us a taste of the pleasures that await us. For example, wouldn’t it be cool to ask Napoleon his opinion on the best temperature for flowering stage?
Chronic, Comics, and Censorship
Underground comics geared toward stoners took off in the late 1960s, and comic books and graphic novels maintain a unique, respectful, and downright bud-tight relationship with cannabis. Publishing comics about pot was a censorship battle worth fighting.
Weed-centered/friendly comic books advanced the boundaries of what could, should, and would be printed. Yes, weed, comedy, comics books, porn — sadly, it’s the great ones who are continually persecuted.
Thus, we owe a debt of gratitude to works like Gilbert Shelton’s The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers or Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix. Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed continues the tradition of weed-friendly, free-speech advocates and examples of comic books and graphic novels, ready to be enjoyed by enthusiasts of our favorite plant. People who sit up at night and wonder, what is the best grow room temperature?
Road Trippin’
Without giving too much away, Pedro de Pacas (Cheech Marin) and Anthony “Man” Stoner (Tommy Chong) are flat broke. And entirely out of herb! But fate, in the form of a call from a casino manager in Reno, who needs an opening act for the show, sets the stage for pot-a-licious hijinks. So, naturally, the dudes need to be in Reno immediately, or ASAP, whichever comes first, hence the necessity for the road trip and the motivation to replenish the “grass and cash” stash, stat. And soon, the trip turns even more trippy and into what is termed a “reefer-fueled toke through time.”
It’s a Big One — 50 Years!
Enjoy this original graphic novel from Z2 Comics that shows the “real” history of the herb, as seen through the vantage point of pivotal pot comedians Cheech and Chong, and enjoy these philosopher-princes, who have shared their humor and humanity with stoners and straights for 50 years. I bet these would be the guys to ask the perfect temperature for growing weed! But we digress. This book marks the anniversary of their first performances, and their 1971 self-titled debut album, which earned the stoner duo a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Recording. Fifty years, man! Far out! Come and celebrate the frickin’ 50th anniversary of Cheech & Chong! Now, where did I put that lighter? Right, there it is.
Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed is a fantastic way to learn about the colorful history of marijuana, including the plant’s effect on celebrated heroes and, symbiotically, our role models’ influence on pot culture as well.
